Recap: Maple Leafs 3, Panthers 2

Maple Leafs 3, Panthers 2: Joffrey Lupul stayed hot by scoring two goals early in the third period as Toronto recorded its third straight home victory by defeating Florida.

Lupul has six goals in four games after missing seven weeks with a broken forearm. Captain Dion Phaneuf also scored and Ben Scrivens made 40 saves for the Maple Leafs, who have secured points in their last six games (3-0-3).

Tomas Fleischmann and Shawn Matthias tallied for the Panthers, who lost the final three contests of their five-game road trip and fell to 1-8-2 against Northeast Division opponents. Rookie Jacob Markstrom stopped 28 shots while making his fourth start in five contests.

After struggling to produce offense early in the game, Toronto coach Randy Carlyle shuffled his lines by putting Lupul with Tyler Bozak and Phil Kessel. The trio comprised the Maple Leafs' top line for much of last season. The move paid dividends on a power play 22 seconds into the third period and again 2:50 later, as Lupul completed nice passing plays with his linemates.

Fleischmann's centering attempt caromed off Toronto defenseman Mark Fraser in the slot to open the scoring in the first period. Phaneuf tied the game midway through the second on a slap shot through traffic from the top of the right faceoff circle.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Matthias also scored off of a Maple Leafs defenseman when his pass through the crease hit Mike Kostka's skate 23 seconds after Lupul scored his first goal. ... Toronto's Clarke MacArthur missed the game and is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. ... Phaneuf has nine points in 13 career games against Florida.